Engine



A. L. POWELL ENGINE Filed March 19. 1924 2 sheets-sheet 1 Matth-20,1928.

A. L. PowELL ENGINE Filed March 19. 1924 2 Sheets-Share?. 2

Patented Mar. 20, 1928.

UNITE sral T ENT l EFLCE.

ALI/'Ara LEIGH POWELL, OE MILES oITY, MONTANA, AssIGNoE To THE'A. L.POWELL POWER COMPANY INCORPORATED, OE MILES CITY, MONTANA.

ENGINE. f

Application lcdlzarch `19, 1924. Serial No. 700,308.

The invention relate-s to engines and especially to that type ofinternal combustion engine shown and described in my United tates Patent#1,384,343, granted July 12, 1921. The present invention isr animprovement in the construction shown in that patent and consists in thearrangement of the cylinders and in the firing order thereof so as toinsure a compact and well-balanced engine. The arrangement of cylindersand the firing order thereof, while shown in conjunction with theparticular engine disclosed in t-he above mentioned patent, may be usedin an engine with or without the power transmitting members shown in thesaid patent. v l

In the conventional engine, only one cylinder fires at a time. Theresult is thatthe crank shaft is twisted back and forth by thetorsionalv strains creating vibrations which are annoying as well asdetrimental to the engine. In the present construction, I propose toprovide two banks or rows of cylinders and to explode the charges in acylinder of each bank at the same time. y When these cylinders areplaced at a considerable distance apart, thetorsional strains occur 'attwo points on the crank shaft, which decreases the torsional vibrationsto a minimum.

' By such an arrangement of parts and the above mentioned Afiring orderof the cylinders, an exceedingly compact `and powerful engine may beconstructed. To provide, for instance, eight cylinders, fourin eachbank, would have many advantages over an engine with four cylinders,each having. double the capacity of one of the eight cylinders. Theeight cylinder engine would be easier to cool i on account of theincreasedradiating surface of the cylinders an'dby decreasing vthetorsional vibrations to a minimum, the arrange-- ment is ideal.

By providing two length of the engine is not materially increased, andby providing the cylinders in staggered relation, the breadth is nogreater than ifa single row of cylinders were employed.

llVith these ends in view, my improvements include elements, andcombinatlons of elean upstanding ments which are illustrated intheiri'pre'- ferred embodiment in the 'drawings accom-v panying thisspecification wherein Figure 1 isa vertical view, partly in crosssection, of the engine;

Fig. 2 is a plansectional view showing the location of the cylinders indotted outline and of the Vcrank case and one power transmitting leverin full lines; i

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the' firing order of the cylinders and Fig.4 is a longitudinal view of the 'crank shaft. I Y

vThe invention is shown herein as embodied in an engine employing eightcylinders, two banks being provided, each having four cylinders therein,although thel principles thereof are in theinain applicable to `any evennumber of cylinders. f

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 represents' a crank casehaving inserts 2 consisting of rectangular vplates'carrying. inwardlyextending bifurcated supports 3. Suitable means, suchv as the bolts 4,are provided whereby the 'plates' 2 may be suityably secured to thecrank case 1. Aligned apertures 5 extend throughthe supports 3and'provide a bearing for a pin 6, which .pin serves as 'a fulcrum pointfor a lever `7 which lever is Vat'itsl other end connected to the piston8 by means of a connecting rod or piston p 9, which piston is slidablein'awat'er jacketed cylinder 10.

A crank shaft'11, having cranks 12, is carried in the lower portion ofthe'crank case l, 'being supported by bearings 13, 14,v and 15, vwhichbearings are in turn carriedVv by later- 'ally extending portions 16,17, and 13 of the crank'case 1. Located midway between the bearings 13and 14 is a bearing 19 Ycarried by portion 20 extending from the bottomof the crank case 1. A similar l bearing 21 is provided intermediate thebearbanks of cylinders', the

ings 14 and 15, the crankshaft being provided with alignedvbearingsurfaces 21, 22, 23, 24, and25, adapted lto be carried in the bearings13,

The' cylinders'are arranged in two rows or banks, which banks vextendlongitudinally of the engine on the opposite sides of the perpendicularplane passing through the 19, 14, 21, and 15, respectively.

axis of the crank shaft. The cylinders on the leftliand side of theengine are denoted by the reference characters 1L, 2L, 3L, and fil,respectively, and those on the righthand side are denoted ybythereference characters 1R, 2R, 3R, and 4R, respectively. A 'fulerumsupport 3 is provided in the same transverse plane with Jeaeliof .thecylinders. It `is .to be noted that thecylindersofone :bank are arrangedin staggered relation with thei cylindeis of the other bank, any threeadjacent cylinders, (two in one bank landone in the other bank) formingthe vertices of a `triangle Any one or more of `these cylinders couldbeV fired Aat any given time, vbut 'I have found that the torsionaleffects on the crank shaft are minimized or practically eliminated by`firing the explosive charges in two cylinders simultaneously spaced asubstantial distance apart. n'

VIn.my preferred construction, the firing .order of the .cylinders is asfollows 11' and 3R simultaneously;

,3L .and 1R simultaneously:

4L 'and 2R simultaneously; and

2L and 1R simultaneously.

It is to be noted khatin the above inentiovned firing order one of thecylinders in one bank explodes simultaneously with one A"of thecylinders in ,the otherbank, and that these two cylinders are spacedapart by a `distance at least equal to one-half the length of the crankshaft.V At least two cylinders are interposed between the itwo cylindersthat are firing. The above mentioned firing .oi-,der is the onewhich Ihaverfound to be the best, but the' essentialfpoint is that .the ltwocylinders which .fire simultaneously should be spacedapartlongitudinally of the crankshaft by a considerable distance. Ifonly .six cylinders are used, I would` recommend the ffollowingfirinorder:-

yl and 2R simultaneous y; i

1R and 3L simultaneously; and

2L and 3R simultaneously.

Referring to Fig. 4, itis to be noted that y all ofthe cranks 12 of thecrank shaft are in the same plane. Fig. 3 represents a diagram showingthe order of the explosions. If Fig. 3 is taken in conjunction with Fig.

' 4, it will be seen that the pistons in Fig.

3 are directly above the respective cranks with .which they would beconnected in Fig. 4. l

While I have shown my preferred construction by way of an example, it isobvious that many changes may be made in the specific structure hereinshown without departing from the fspirit ofthe; invention. I, therefore,do not limit myself t0 the spe-l ciic structure shown, except as I maylimit myself in the following claims.

What I claim is l. An engine having two rows of cylinders, the planepassing through the axes of the cylinders of one row being 'parallel tothe plane passing through the axes of the ycylinders in lthe other `row.and means for ...firing .explosive charges in .two .of said cylinderssimultaneously said last mentioned `cylinders being spaced apart by adistance `atleast equal to one-half the length of the a distance atleast equal to one-half the length of the engine so that the engine isalmost perfectly balanced.

3. An engine having two rows of cylinders, the cylinders vof one rowbeing arranged in staggered arrangement with rela,- tion to thecylinders of the other row, said cylinders having a firing orderwhereby'the explosive charges in two of said cylinders are firedsimultaneously said last mentioned cylinders lbeing spaced apart by adistance at least equal to one-half the length of the engine :sothat theengine is almost perfectly balanced.

4f. An engine having two rows of cylinders, the cylinders of one rowbeing arranged in staggered arrangement with relation to the cylindersof the othery row, said cyliii- .ders having a firingorder whereby theexplosive cliarges in one cylinder of each row vare fired simultaneouslythe firing cylinders being spaced apart so that at least two cylindersare interposed between the cylinders that are firing whereby a balancingof the engine `is obtained.

5. An engine having akplurality of cylinders in two banks, the planepassing through the axes of the cylinders of one bank being parallel tothe plane passing through theaxes of the other bank, pistons therein, vacrank shaft, means operatively connecting said pistons and crank shaft,the

' firing order of said cylinders being such that the harges in twocylinders fire simultaneously, such firing cylinders being spaced apartby a distance equal toat least onefourth the length of the crank shaftwhereby the unbalanced vibrations of the engine are neutralized envianLinien POWELL.

